291 

py 1 



A LETTER 



GOVERNOR SAMUEL BARD 



TO 



PRESIDENT GRANT, 



ON THE 



Political Situation 



IN 



GEORGIA AND THE SOUT.! 



ATLANTA, GE0RC4IA, 
i>EC., isro. 



" WISDOM, JUSTICE AND MODERATION. 



J" 



Atlanta, Georgia, Dec, 1810. 
To General U. S. Grant, President of the United States. 

My Dear Sir— The N. Y. Tribune, of the first instant, con- 
tains the following telegraphic despatch : 

" Atlanta, Nov. 3Qth.—At last the true colors of the ' decoy 
ducks' in the pav of the Democracy of this State, who have so long 
caused discord in the ranks of the"Repul)lican party here, and mis- 
led the representatives of the party at AVashington and elsewhere, 
are coming to light. Sam Bard, who, in company with Joshua 
Hill and others, sorted a newspaper called The True Georgian, a 
few months ago, in this city, ostensibly for the purpose of sustain- 
ing Gen. Grant's administration, and denouncing the State admin- 
istration of Gov. Bullock, comes out with a leader this morning, re- 
nouncing Gen. Grant and hoisting the name of John T. Hoffman 
tor President and Gen. Gordon, of this State, for Governor, in 1872. 
He also comes out in favor of the Democratic nominee for Congress 
in this District. Bard is the man whom the Senate confirmed, last 
winter, as Governor of Idaho. It is understood that he is now in 
the employ of Tammany Hall, having just returned from New 
York. Republicans here are rejoicing that this unclean ulcer has 
at last been cut from the body of the Republican party of this 
State. 

" The campaign is advancing finely, with every prospect ot a Re- 
publican victory in December next." 

This despatch bears the ear-marks of its origin. I might at once 
address my reply to the Governor of Georgia, who is its source and 
inspiration, be the medium of its transmission who it may, but I 
always prefer to address a gentleman when I have the choice, and 
happily the language of the despatch leaves me a choice. It states 
that my newspaper. The True Georgian, was started " ostensibly for 
the purpose of sustaining Gen. Grant's administration and denoun- 
cing the State administration;;of Governor Bullock," thereby imply- 
ing a lack of sincerity in my support of you, while it does not as- 
sert that I failed to perform the latter part of my assigned duty. 
It assumes an identity of purpose between the Federal and State 
administrations in Georgia, which I had hoped, for your own sake and 
that of Georgia, you would have avoided. No one knows better than 
yourself how earnestly^I have striven to^prevent the identification 
of your administration with that of Governor Bullock ; butVhether 
the current upon which you sailed led inevitably to that reef; or 



you chose to accept other pilotage than mine, I could'ut be ex- 
pected, after warning you, to sail with you to inevitable wreck and 
destruction. I have told you and the world that Governor Bul- 
lock's administration in Georgia was a foul blot upon our National 
escutcheon — that it was a fraud and a crowning infamy; and I told 
you the truth. It has degraded and impoverished our State — 
plundered her treasury — dissipated her school fund — pawned her 
assets and destroyed her credit. 

It has assassinated and overthrown the reconstructed body politic 
organized under the Acts of Congress by General Meade, and foisted 
upon thepeople a hungry band of unprincipled political adventurers, 
who have eaten out their substance while depriving them of redress 
by preventing their representatives from taking their seats in Con- 
gress. 

It has kept itself in power by a series of adroit and unscrupulous 
tamperings with the laws and Constitution of the State, and by out- 
rages against the I'ights of citizens, and, when these have failed, by 
unblushing usurpation of authority, in which, I regret to say, it has 
received support from Washington. 

It is a ring — a combination, a band of political Forty Thieves — not 
a Government. To call it a Government is to disgrace the name 
and bring that which men should venerate into disrepute. It oc- 
cupies the seats and wields the power of authority, not to protect 
but to pillage, and society is only safe w'here self-protected. 
The order that exists in Georgia is that of an order-loving people — 
the disturbance of it is the result of maladministration, political op- 
pression and extravagance, and driving our citizens out of the 
State and preventing immigration into it. 

Who cares to risk taking up his residence in a State, the bonds 
of which, issued for railroad purposes, cannot be sold, even at a low 
figure, without great difficulty ? 

I live in I Georgia. The interests of this community are Imy in- 
terests. Their good name is involved in that of their State. I can- 
not see it dishonored for political ends by vile men, who do not 
hold their places "by the consent of the governed," but through 
the influence of a remote power, without] protesting against the 
iniquity and renouncing all who uphold it. 

I have waited long,liumbly, patiently, for the reestablishment 
of her rights and the recognition of her equality among sister 
States, but in vain. Upon each compliance with the terms of re- 
construction, Georgia has been remanded to the political purgatory 
of Bullock and Blodgett; and powers so utterly at war with the 
Constitution have been assumed by Congress to accomplish this, 



that, if wielded towards other States, the Federal Republic must soon 
cease to be sueli and become an Empire. 

It is quite possible I may have erred in supposing that you could 
stem the torrent of radicalism which is sweeping our country on to de- 
struction. Nevertheless, I did think so, and for that reason I put your 
name up as my candidate for the Presidency before you were nomi- 
nated at Chicago, and supported you heartily up to the 30th ultimo. 

I had been a Democrat before the civil war, and an advocate of 
all the measures of public policy which that party professed. I 
was an officer in the Confederate army. When the war closed, you, 
as the conquering General, acted with soldierl}^ magnanimity. In 
the early vcars of peace your word was a protection to Southern 
men against the vindictive spirit of Northern non-combatants. 
You made a trip through the South and reported favorably on its 
condition to President Johnson, which brought down upon you 
the ire of Senator Sumner, who characterized it as a " whitewashing- 
report." You made no political speeches, and up to the period of 
your inauguration as President relied upon your military record. 
It was this record that secured you the nomination of the Republi- 
can party. They used it as a political capital, the tiltra members 
fearing all the while that you would prove intractable when President. 
They thought you were moderate, and thousands of Democrats 
thought the same. For these reasons I supported you, and urged 
the South to support you, as a powerful breakwater against the de- 
structive tide of radicalism. I accepted in good faith the Consti- 
tutional Amendments and Reconstruction Acts, not as the best 
measures for the South and the Union, but as the penalty of de- 
feat — as terms which the conquered section could not refuse. They 
gave us a new point of departure — a new labor system, Avhich 
is the groundwork of a new political system. From this point 
I was eager to work — forward, not backward. I went for pro- 
gress not reaction, and opposed the counterrevolution inaugurated 
by the New York Convention and the letter of General Frank P. Blair. 
What I desired was, above all things, "peace." This secured, I 
hoped to see the South develop anew her energies and resources, for 
the benefit not of herself alone but of the entire Union. I could not 
have known that Georgia was to be kept in a state of perpetual 
bondage, the prey of irresponsible demagogues, the associate in 
misery with South Carolina and Louisiana, whose governors, Scott 
and Warmouth, form with Bullock a triumvirate of immitigated 
political scoundrelism, without precedent since the latter days of 
the Roman Empire, and have cursed the States over which they rule 
with plagues worse than the frogs and hce of Egypt. This is truth, 
and Truth is eternal. 



6 / 

Your inaugural address, Mr. President, served to reassure me. In 
it you declared, " The office has come to me unsought. I commence 
its duties untrammelled;" and in your first annual message you 
urged the speedy removal of all political disabilities, giving as a 
sound reason therefor " that no people could long be excluded 
from their rights with safety." These Avere an earnest of the faith 
that was in 3'ou; but you did not let it rest there. You followed 
vour faith by works. You appointed men who had been Con- 
federate soldiers to office — myself among the number. You nomi- 
nated me Governor of Idaho, and I was confirmed by the Senate. 
I would gladly have assumed the duties of that honorable office, but 
I found that I was still needed at home, to oppose the rotten admin- 
istration of Governor Bullock, and I resigned it. In performing this 
duty I have warmly sustained you and your administration, hoping 
that the latter might ultimately reflect your personal character and 
convictions, as I understood them, instead of being controlled by 
influences now dominating it for party purposes. Your inaugural 
declaration, that you would "have no policy to enforce against the 
will of the people," appears to have been taken by ultra-sectionalists 
in Congress as an abandonment of the sceptre, and they have 
seized it accordingly, to your decided detriment and that of the 
country. 

My high personal regard for you has undergone^ no change. 

The public policy, of which you are not the author but the official 
instrument, I must firmly oppose. 

The people of North Carolina and Missouri have recently repu- 
diated that policy with unmistakable disdain, and have pointed out 
the path to freedom which noble old Georgia is soon to follow. 
Does the English language furnish terms wherewith to properly 
stigmatize the acts of Governor Holden ? Is it to be wondered at 
that a long suffering people, Repul)licaus as well as Democrats, 
should have at last vindicated themselves, and overthrown his cor- 
rupt and tyrannical administration at the ballot box ? 

And there, too, is Missouri. Who, sir, did you the pernicious 
service to advise your prosecution of the friends of Carl Scliurz 
and Gratz Brown ? These men are Republicans, dyed in the wool — 
men who have proven their faith in human liberty by early risking 
their lives in its support. The first an exile from the land of his birtlb 
for the never-to-be-forgotton heroism of '48 ; the second an out- 
spoken abolitionist in Kentucky and Missouri, when death was a 
swift inflicted penalty for free opinion. These two men are philoso" 
phers, who believe in the liberty of all men, white as well as black; 
and their antagonist, Senator Drake, may well go to them to learn 



the first principles of Repiiblicanism, instead of attempting to pro- 
scribe them. Tliey are broad, comprehensive and humane in 
their views — he is nan'ow, crotchetty and vindictive. Missouri 
and the country have judged between them, and the credit stands 
recorded in favor of universal " Amnesty" and Republican freedom, 
as against the Republican party. 

It has been truly said that " He who would be constant in wisdom 
must change often" The free mind cannot be too much trammelled by 
party names or affiliations. It looks to the ultimate not the im- 
mediate working ; it may be by devious paths, but always with 
the grand object in view. The inconsistency of such a course is 
more apparent than real. Parties of narrower views may hope to 
eff'ect it by clamor, but triumph crowns it at the end. It is of less 
importance to me how my conduct may appear in this matter than 
what I may accomplish by it. The imputation cast upon my mo- 
tives were expected, and, therefore, discounted beforehand. I could 
not have united with the Democracy of Georgia nine, or even four 
months ago, because at that time they had not advanced to the 
point of new departure, whence, in my opinion, they must work for 
the future. They needed to grow out of the sectionahsm of their 
old ideas and to become Nationalized. I think they have done so. 
No man is now so foolish as to think of disrupting the Union or re- 
establishing slavery in any form. The main objects desired and 
sought for are equality of the States in the Union, and the right of 
local self-government, uninfluenced by Federal dictation. These 
rights are as important to Massachusetts and Illinois as they are to 
Georgia, and they cannot be denied to one State without im- 
periling'Jthe independence and life of all. 

Reconstruction finished the States must be equals, or the Union 
will again be aggTavated by dissension, and liable to be warped 
from its true purpose to serve local or sectional interests. The 
Democratic party is^pledged to this solution of the questions left us 
by the war. It opposes the attempt to control elections by means 
of soldiers'sent ^jer orders from the central power. Nothing could 
be invented more calculated to overthrow freedom than to place an 
army at the disposal of an ambitious President, with authority, 
under the law, to interfere with elections. If this power continues 
it requires no prophet to predict the ultimate overthrow of free 
government throughout the United States. 

Upon the questions of political economy developed in the history 
of our countr}^ I have always been a Democrat, and I still adhere 
to the propriety of applying their system to the administration of 
our financial affairs and collection of the revenue, so far as may be 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



8 



014 418 846 9 



compatible with tlie changed relations of trade and values now 
existing. 

Governed by these views I have issued the following card to the 
public, in my paper of 30th ultimo : 

" A close observation upon the condition of the country, during my 
recent visit to the ' Federal Capital ' and the Northern States, has 
forced upon my mind the conviction that the mission of the Re- 
publican party has ended. The accomplishment of all its good offices 
devolves upon the statesmen of the covmtry the duty of determining 
the policy of the Government for the fnture. Stupendous issues are 
noiv rising up, having no necessary connection with the measures of 
the late civil war, or of reconstruction consequent upon it, demanding 
the closest investigation and wisest solution by the popular mind. 
Many of those have assumed such shape as to make it clearly mani- 
fest that the future welfare of the country will be best secured by the 
complete triumph of the declared principles of the Democratic party, 
as now set forth by such leaders as Governor John T. Hoffman, and 
illustrated by his recent triumphant election. 

" Acting with the Rey)ublican party in support of the measures for 
the Restoration of the States of the 3outh to their proper relations to 
the 'Federal Government,' we have but discharged a solemn duty to 
the people, for which we have not a single regret to express. 

" Now that Reconstruction has been fully accomplished, the same 
high regard for the welfare and peace of the whole country which has 
always controlled my political course impels me to declare my un- 
qualified sympathy with and -adhesion to the National Democratic 
party. 

" With this well considered determination we place at our masthead 
the name of John T. Hoffman, of New York, for the Presidency in 
1872. 

" This determination has been arrived at without consultation with 
Governor Hoffman or his friends, and without regard to ]}er'sonal 
consequences. 

" On the same ground we also hoist the name of John B. Gordon, 
for the office of Governor of the State of Georgia in 1872. 

"The policy of "The True Georgian" toward the dangerous State 
administration will continue as heretofore — one of firm and vigorous 
opposition." 

It is this card which has occasioned so much telegraphic activity 
on the part of Bullock's supporters in Georgia, and given them 
opportunity to renew their too well established claim of owning the 
Republicanfactionin this State — for it cannot be truthfully asserted 
that it ever has risen or ever can rise to the dignity of a party 
under such intolerably wicked leadership. 

With great respect, Mr. President, I have the honor to subscribe 
myself, as ever. 

Your friend and obedient servant, 

SAMUEL BARD, 

Editor "The Daily True Georgian^ 



